What We're Making Day #1 with Margaret

Welcome to Day #1 of What We’re Making!

In celebration of #WorldCraftWeek, we have asked our lovely staff at The Cotton Patch to tell us about their current projects and share some insights into their crafty lives.

First up is our crafting queen and solver of the unsolvable, Margaret, here to tell us about her Ribbon & Felt Necklace. We hope you will enjoy!

Tell us a bit about your project:

I was inspired by images in Janet Haigh's book, Little Ribbon Patchwork And Applique.  Her necklace designs using Kaffe Fassett's Renaissance ribbons are amazing.  They use felt too, which is one of my favourite mediums.  So, I used felt, the Renaissance ribbons, some 'textured' threads and small beads, plus some humongous beads to fill in between the felt 'beads'.  You can spend as much or as little time as you want, the possibilities are endless.

Any hints or tips for someone who might want to make your project?

Make sure you have some fine wooden skewers on hand to help keep the inside of the felt tube open and also to help hold the beads whilst they are being worked.  Make sure you roll the felt fairly tightly around the skewer but not too much or the necklace string will not go through.

What or who got you into patchwork & quilting?

My first effort at patchwork was making a dressing gown out of my old summer and school uniform dresses when I was about 17.  Since then I spent some time in the US and their dedication to quilting is legendary, so I was sort of hooked, especially when I came home and my boss's wife opened a patchwork & quilting shop.  I was first in line for the classes.

What project are you most proud of?

I guess it must be a machine appliqued/hand quilted king size quilt.  Mostly from a design by Brandywine 'Love is a Work of Heart' and then enhanced with my own applique borders.  I learnt to machine applique from the master, Harriet Hargrave, when she visited the UK from the US back in the 90's.

What project was your biggest disaster and why?

Wow, that takes me back - an ocean waves quilt that I wanted to machine piece BUT you know how they say the most important thing is cutting out the pieces accurately?  Well, my cutting out was rubbish although I tried very hard.  Nothing fitted well and the pins eventually went rusty in the fabric.  It ended up in the bin!

Who is your favourite fabric designer or brand?

It would have to be Moda - all of their designers are amazing and so tempting.

Moda fabrics

What tool/notion could you not live without?

My thimble - didn't use one for 20 years when making clothes but as soon as I got hooked on patchwork & quilting I started using one and now feel lost if I try to stitch without one.

What current collection do you have your eye on and what will you make with it?

Wildwood Way - I quite fancy a Summer throw, probably with a centre medallion and stars.

Wildwood Way Fabrics

Finally, any wise words or top tips for our fellow patchwork & quilters?

If you value your sanity, try not to start (and inevitably not finish) too many projects at once, but hey, just have fun - after all it is only patchwork and not the end of the world as we know it!

Thank you Margaret for sharing with us and helping celebrate World Craft Week. If you loved Margaret's necklace and have enjoyed this post, please comment below and share!

Tomorrow we will be introducing you to Anna with her batik quilt.